DO you ever hear a piece of music and you become all emotional, find yourself covered in goose bumps and have a little lump in your throat? Even the most hardened of individuals have been quoted as having “a something in my eye” moment!
There is one such song currently doing the rounds which is having that effect on women in sport. Girl (Daughter of Scotland) is an anthem for all women and girls and has been adopted by the sporting community as their own.
Written and performed by Sharon Martin, its poignant words really lifts the spirit encouraging girls “to be anything you believe you can be”.
To be fair Sharon did pen the song initially for the Scottish Football Association women’s national team but she has been more than happy to support every request from other sports to perform the song and is delighted at the uptake from many sports, including, swimming, netball, basketball, rugby, tennis.
She is now on a mission to make sure that every sport who wants to, has the opportunity to use this anthem at any event for women in sport. You can get a copy of this uplifting tune through the normal channels.
At the recent Rally for Bally at the Western Tennis Club, at which a host of celebrities tried their hand at tennis whilst raising funds for the Elena Baltacha charity, Judy Murray was seen to have something in her eye when she heard Sharon singing the song live, compounded by the inclusion of a piper to stir up even more, our Scottish emotions.
Judy is such a fan of the song that she is adding it to her playlist this Saturday for her interview on The BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live show. So why not listen in and see what all the fuss is about.
I think one such athlete who may have taken these lyrics to heart, particularly the chorus that says, “Girl – you can be anything that you want to be” must be Megan Gordon, the first female to represent Scotland in boxing in Scotland when she will participate in the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas from July 18-23.
Megan who is the Scottish Youth Champion and fights in 51kg category recently missed out on adding the British Youth title to her name and had to settle for silver on a split decision in the final. She is on form and focused for these games and hoping that she will do enough to catch the eye of the selectors for the 2018 Games. Boxing Scotland are keen to welcome more women and girls into the sport and are working on creating an Inclusion & Participation advisory group to ensure that they cover all bases.
Another group of girls travelling shortly are Netball Scotlands’ U21 National Squad as they make the long hike to Bostwana to participate in the Netball Youth World, which commences on July 6.
Finally a shout out to Livingstone Cricket Club who have chosen this year to have a female overseas professional at the club, rather than a male one. Her name is Hannah Short and she is from Tasmania and by all accounts is doing a fantastic job. Currently playing in LCC men’s first team she is helping out at a number of other clubs with women and girls cricket, in the greater Edinburgh area. This is a great move by LCC and one that should be replicated by the wider sporting community.
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